Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program

Joe Griffith

Joe Griffith grew up in Oklahoma. In 1960, he entered the U.S. Air Force Academy and spent the next four years there. He then went into pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma. He served three tours in Vietnam and worked at the Pentagon in readiness assessment. In 1982, Joe came to Alaska to serve as Commander of the Air Force's 21st Wing, which had just failed an operational readiness inspection. Joe retired from the Air Force in 1984, but has continued to reside in Alaska.

Joe Griffith was interviewed on September 5, 2014 by Karen Brewster and Leslie McCartney at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage Alaska. Joe was one of the keynote speakers at the conference "A Cold War, 2014 Alaska Conference and Nike Veterans Reunion" held in Anchorage, Alaska on September 4 and 5, 2014. In this first part of a two part interview, Joe explains how he went into the Air Force in the early 1960s, his three tours in Vietnam, and how he came to work at the Pentagon in readiness assesment. He also talks about becoming a commander in Alaska, the shooting down of a Korean airliner by the Russians, and reflects how his career was affected by the Cold War.

This is a continuation of an interview with Joe Griffith on September 5, 2014 by Karen Brewster and Leslie McCartney at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, Joe talks about the cooperation between the various services in the military, his work as a commander in Alaska, and Alaska's involvement with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). He also talks about his work with the Air Force's 21st Wing, and reflects on his career.